Genesis 24:7

Gen 24:7 The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.

Ver. 7. He shall send his angel.] There are myriads of angels, {Dan 7:10} and all sent out for the solace and safe conduct of the saints. {Heb 1:14} Oh, the dignity and safety of a child of God!

Thou shalt take a wife.] He argues from what God hath done for him, to what he will do. Every former favour is a pledge of a future. Thou hast, thou wilt, is a Scripture demonstration. {see Psa 85:1-4} Six thou hasts; whereupon he infers and enforceth his, "Turn us, O God of our salvation," &c.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Gen 24:7. He shall send his angel before thee — God’s angels are ministering spirits, sent forth, not only for the protection, but guidance of the heirs of promise, Heb 1:14. And they who are thus guided are sure to speed well.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 7. The Lord God, c.] He expresses the strongest confidence in God, that the great designs for which he had brought him from his own kindred to propagate the true religion in the earth would be accomplished and that therefore, when earthly instruments failed, heavenly ones should be employed. He shall send his angel, probably meaning the Angel of the Covenant, of whom see Ge 15:7.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. The Lord God of heaven. By a twofold argument Abraham infers, that what he is deliberating respecting the marriage of his son will, by the grace of God, have a prosperous issue. First, because God had not led him forth in vain from his own country into a foreign land; and secondly, because God had not falsely promised to give the land, in which he was dwelling as a stranger, to his seed. He might also with propriety be confident that his design should succeed, because he had undertaken it only by the authority, and, as it were, under the auspices of God; for it was his exclusive regard for God which turned away his mind from the daughters of Canaan. He may, however, be thought to have inferred without reason that God would give his son a wife from that country and kindred to which he himself had bidden farewell. But whereas he had left his relatives only at the divine command, he hopes that God will incline their minds to be propitious and favorable to him. Meanwhile he concludes, from the past kindnesses of God, that his hand would not fail him in the present business; as if he would say, “I, who at the command of God left my country, and have experienced his continued help in my pilgrimage, do not doubt that he will also be the guide of thy journey, because it is in reliance on his promise that I lay upon thee this injunction.” He then describes the mode in which assistance would be granted; namely, that God would send his angel, for he knew that God helps his servants by the ministration of angels, of which he had already received many proofs. By calling God the God of heaven, he celebrates that divine power which was the ground of his confidence.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

7. the God of heaven] The LXX adds “and the God of the earth,” from Gen_24:3. The phrase “the God of heaven” occurs in Ezr_5:12; Neh_1:4-5; Neh_2:4; Jon_1:9; Tob_5:16.

the land of my nativity] See Gen_12:1 (J). The land of Haran is clearly intended.

that sware unto me, &c.] The reference is to Gen_12:7; cf. also Gen_13:15, Gen_15:18, Gen_22:16.

he shall send his angel] It is noteworthy that Abraham does not here speak of Jehovah being present with the servant on his mission. The servant of Abraham will be guided by “the messenger, or angel,” of Abraham’s God. For “the angel of Jehovah” going before His people, cf. Exo_14:19; Exo_23:20; Exo_32:34; Psa_91:11.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Lord God of heaven, which took from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred,.... Jarchi distinguishes between his father's house, and the land of his kindred; the former he takes to be Haran, in which he seems to be right; for his father and his family came with him from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran, and there stayed, from whence Abraham was taken and separated from them; by the latter he understands Ur of the Chaldees, interpreting the phrase of the land in which he was born, as Onkelos and Jonathan, and the Septuagint version render it: but the same is meant as before, for Haran was the land of his kindred, where Terah his father died, and Nahor his brother and family lived; from whence he was taken and removed into the land of Canaan, by the call, direction, and providence of the Lord God, who made the heavens, and dwells therein:

which spake unto me, and that swore unto me; made a promise to him, and confirmed it with an oath, Gen 15:18,

saying, unto thy seed will I give this land; the land of Canaan; and therefore his son, in whom his seed was to be called, must not be removed from hence, and settled in another country:

he shall send his angel before thee; Aben Ezra takes this to be a prayer or wish, "may he send his angel before thee"; for if it was a prophecy, he adds, why did he say "if the woman will not be willing?" but from Gen 24:10; and from what follows, that the servant should take a wife to his son from thence, and the encouragement he had for his faith in it, and from what God bad done for him, and said unto him, it seems as if he was fully assured in his own mind of the event: this angel may be either understood of a created angel, such being frequently made use of in the affairs of Providence, directing and succeeding men, or of the uncreated Angel, the Son of God, since the servant attributes his direction and success wholly to the Lord.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He will send his angel before thee. This shews that the Hebrews believed that God gave them guardian angels for their protection. (Challoner) --- Angel. A proof of the antiquity of our belief respecting angel guardians. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

He shall send his angel before thee, to direct and succeed thee in this enterprise. Compare Exo 14:19; 23:20.

Thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence; I doubt not of the success. He might say so, either by rational conjecture, both from the nature of the thing, and from the constant course of God’s providence blessing him in all his concerns; or by particular assurance and inspiration from God.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. He shall send his angel before thee — Abraham is confident that the Angel of the Covenant (see note on Gen_16:7) will prepare his servant’s way. Too many have been the divine interpositions for him now to doubt. He is perfectly willing to rest with the understanding that if the woman be unwilling, his servant shall be released from his oath.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

God's angels are ministering spirits, sent forth, not only for the protection, but guidance of the heirs of promise, Heb. i, 14. He shall send his angel before thee - And then thou shalt speed well.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

angel

(See Scofield "Heb 1:4").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

'ה אלהי השמים אשר לקחני מבית אבי THE LORD, GOD OF HEAVEN, WHO TOOK ME FROM MY FATHER'S HOUSE — Here he did not say “[The God of heaven] and the God of the earth”, whereas above (v. 3) he said, “And I will make thee swear etc. … [and the God of the earth]’’. But, in effect, Abraham said to him: Now He is the God of heaven and the God of the earth, because I have made him (i. e. His Name) a familiar one in peoples’ mouths: but at the time when He took me from my father’s house He was God of heaven only and not God of the earth for people did not acknowledge Him and His Name was not commonly known on earth (Genesis Rabbah 59:7).

מבית אבי FROM MY FATHER S HOUSE — from Haran.

ומארץ מולדתי AND FROM THE LAND OF MY NATIVITY — from Ur-Kasdim.

ואשר דבר לי AND WHO SPOKE לי—The word לי means “in my interest”, just as (1 Kings 2:4) “which He spake concerning me (עלי)”. In the same way, in every case where לי or לו or להם follow after the verb דבר they must be explained in the sense of על “concerning” — and in the Targum they should be rendered by עלי or עלוהי or עליהון regarding me etc. — for with this verb דבר in the sense of speaking to a person, the expressions לי and לו and להם are not the appropriate ones, but אלי and אליו and אליהן, and their renderings in the Targum should be עמי and עמיה and עמהן i. e., to speak with me or him or them. In the case of the verb אמר, however, the expressions לי and לו and להם are the appropriate ones.

ואשר נשבע לי AND WHO SWORE UNTO ME at the Covenant between the Pieces (Genesis Rabbah 59:10).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

FROM MY FATHER’s HOUSE, ‘UMEI’ERETZ MOLAD’TI’ (AND FROM THE LAND OF MY NATIVITY). Rashi comments: “From my father’s house — from Haran. And from the land of my nativity — from Ur of the Chaldees.” If this is so, the expression, Unto my country and to ‘molad’ti’ thou shalt go, must also refer to Ur of the Chaldees. But Heaven forbid that the sacred seed should mix with the sons of Ham, the sinful one! Even if one would say that Abraham had some family there from the seed of Shem, the fact is however that the servant went to Haran as his master said! Now perhaps the Rabbi [Rashi] thinks that eretz molad’to (the land of his birth) was Ur of the Chaldees, but molad’ti means “my family,” and my country means the land wherein he lived. But all these are futile words since here, in the verse before us, he said, And thou shalt take a wife for my son from there, [and according to Rashi, who explained ume’eretz molad’ti, mentioned in this verse, as meaning Ur of the Chaldees, it would follow that Abraham commanded Eliezer to go there to get a wife from the children of Ham]! Moreover, Abraham stayed in the land of Canaan for a longer period than he did in Haran, and so why should Haran be called his country simply because he lived there for some time? Instead, the meaning of the expression, unto my country and to ‘molad’ti’, is “unto my country in which I was born,” [namely, Haran in Mesopotamia], for there he stayed and from there his ancestors came, as was already explained. In Bereshith Rabbah we find: “From my father’s house — this is the house of his father. And from the land of my birth — this is the environs [of his father’s house].”It is possible that unto my country and unto ‘molad’ti’ means “Unto my country and unto my family,” for he did not want a wife to be taken for Isaac even from the people of his country but only from his family. Similarly in the verse, And thou shalt take a wife for my son from there, [the word misham (from there)] alludes to the expression, from my father’s house, mentioned at the beginning of the verse. And so did the servant say when quoting Abraham, And thou shalt take a wife for my son of my family, and of my father’s house, and again he said, quoting his master. Then shalt thou be clear from my oath when thou comest to my family., Verse 41. These words were said by the servant to honor them so that they would listen to him.

AND WHO SPOKE ‘LI’ (UNTO ME). Rashi comments: “The word li means ‘in my interest,’ just as in the verse, which He spoke ‘alai’ (concerning me). In the same way, in every case where li and lo and lahem follow the word dibur (speaking), they are to be explained in the sense of al (concerning). For proper usage of the verb dibur [in the sense of speaking to a person, the pronouns li and lo and lahem are not appropriate, and] only eilai and eilav and aleihem are appropriate, and their renderings in the Targum are imi and imei and imhon. In the case of the word amirah, however, the expressions li and lo and lahem are appropriate.”In the section of Vayeitzei Yaakov, Rashi brought [proof of his above mentioned principle which states that li or lecha, etc., following the word dibur, must be explained in the sense of al (concerning)] from that which is written there, that which ‘dibarti’ (I have spoken) ‘lach,’ [which must be interpreted to mean “in thy interest and concerning thee”] since He had never spoken to Jacob before this occasion.But this difference is not valid for we find: And now go, lead the people unto the place of which ‘dibarti’ (I have spoken) ‘lach’; is found in connection with lach, and yet it means “to you,” and not “concerning you,” as Rashi claimed. And the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic; And thou shalt drive them out, and make them to perish quickly, as the Eternal hath spoken unto thee. Similarly the verb amirah is used with both li and eilai: And they shall say ‘li’ (to me), What is His name? What shall I say ‘aleihem’ (to them)? And as for [the verse which Rashi mentioned as his proof], that which ‘dibarti’ (I have spoken) ‘lach,’ [which must mean, as Rashi said, “concerning thee,” since He had never spoken to Jacob before this occasion], its interpretation is as follows: “that which I have said to you now that I will give the land to you and to your seed, and I will bless you.” [Thus the word lach (to you) follows the understood verb “give” and is not related to dibarti.]

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

אשר לקחני, since He took me out from there to give this land to my offspring, He would surely not want me to bring my son back there.

הוא ישלח מלאכו, to ensure the success of your errand to take a wife for my son from there.

ואשר דבר לי, both before I left that country and afterwards.

ואשר נשבע לי, at the time when I had bound Yitzchok.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.